EU parliament speaker says Greek PM Tsipras wants to talk

ATHENS (Reuters) - European parliament speaker Martin Schulz welcomed signs that the new Greek government was prepared to seek a joint solution in its drive to renegotiate its bailout agreement with international partners but said many issues needed discussion. Schulz, the most senior European politician to visit Athens since the seeping election victory of the leftwing anti-austerity Syriza party on Sunday, said he had been encouraged by his meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He said many points required further discussion but that the Greek government had shown it was sincerely interested in discussion. "I'll say it very openly. In the public debate in Europe there's the fear and also the impression that Tsipras is going it alone," he told reporters after the meeting. "I have seen that the government of Alexis Tsipras is not thinking about going it alone, it wants to make proposals and it wants these proposals to be discussed with partners. I think that is a very good message," he said. Tsipras said his government wanted to negotiate with European partners but that a substantive solution would require time to reach. (Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Costas Pitas)